


possibly, maybe i'm falling for you

by orphan_account



Series: AUgust 2020 - AU Writing Challenge [5]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe-Coffee Shop, Awkwardness, Developing Relationships, Flirting, Hooking up, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:54:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25739914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: It’s not that Jack wasn’t into relationships, it’s just that Jack wasn’t a relationships kind of guy.
Relationships: Kent "Parse" Parson/Jack Zimmermann
Series: AUgust 2020 - AU Writing Challenge [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1860460
Comments: 1
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

“Whoa, careful!” Jack moved to correct Tyler’s form, then hissed out a curse when a drop of scalding hot milk splashed onto his hand.

“Oh, shit!” Tyler cried out. He quickly put down the frothing pitcher onto the rubber mat, pushed the lever up to shut off the frothing wand, and grabbed a wet towel to thrust at Jack, as if that would help. “Dude, I’m so sorry, are you okay?”

It hurt, of course, burns always hurt, but it really wasn’t that much milk that had hit him. He’d be fine in a few minutes. “Yeah, I’m fine. But remember, as soon as you start hearing that high-pitched screaming, it means the milk is burning.”

“Right, yeah, but they asked for extra hot and no foam?” Tyler said, looking so confused and nervous that Jack almost felt bad for him.

He remembered his first few weeks of working at Grounds Control, trying to keep all his training straight when the drive-thru was full of cars and the café was filling up, drink orders piling up on the bar, and customers getting antsy. This was Tyler’s first morning shift, and throwing him on bar wasn’t proving to be the best way to get him acclimated to the workflow. Some people really responded to being thrown in the deep end, but clearly Tyler wasn’t one of them, and Jack had to swallow hard against his annoyance, when he made to explain. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean to burn the shit out of it, even though I think we both know that’s what it ends up tasting like,” he joked, though from the despairing look on Tyler’s face, it must have fallen flat.

Jack gave Tyler what he hoped was a friendly punch in the arm and sent him to take over for Melanie on DTO while he, himself, took bar to get caught up enough on the morning rush. Truth was, Jack really liked being on bar more than he liked any of the other positions because it was something he could really put his head down and focus on without having to do _too_ much talking with the customers. Plus, he liked the uniformity of it—the recipes were easy to follow once you got the pattern, and there wasn’t too much experimenting to be done.

Things slowed down after an hour or so, and Tyler was able to take back over on the bar, allowing Jack to make himself a cup of plain, black coffee and head into the back for a short break before he started preparing the daily deposit. Or at least, he _intended_ to head into the back for his break, but a familiar blond head caught his eye and he veered off to the table tucked in the back of the café.

“Euh, hey, Parse—” he debated sitting down across the table, but when Parse didn’t nudge the chair out for him, he awkwardly shifted his weight and continued, “It’s good to see you.”

Parse looked up from his laptop and Jack was treated to the ever-so-painful production number that was Parse pretending that he wasn’t mad by half-smirking and generally acting like a world-class douchebag. “Oh, hey Zimms, didn’t know you were working,” he said, dismissive as anything.

“Yeah, I…sorry,” Jack said, falling back as he often did on his innate Canadian politeness when he felt uncomfortable, even though he was pretty sure he hadn’t done anything wrong. “We were pretty, euh, slammed or I would have, um, noticed you were here before.”

Parse shrugged and picked up his “for here” mug—crap, he really must have been here a while—to take a sip of whatever super sweet confection masquerading as coffee he’d ordered today. (Parse was one of those regulars who never actually got the same thing; it was kind of annoying not being able to predict it, but also maybe a little bit charming…) “S’all good, man, no worries. I mean, I can take a hint, you know.” He flashed that little smirk again, his green eyes sparkling with mirth. “I’d find another coffee place, but unfortunately this one’s the closest to campus.”

“You don’t have to—ugh, Parse, c’mon,” Jack said, annoyance getting the better of him. He took the un-offered seat now, feeling suddenly quite stubborn, and set his own cup down with enough force that a little bit of coffee sloshed over the rim. He ran a finger through the splash as he said, quietly enough for only Parse to hear, “this doesn’t have to be weird.”

“Who’s making it weird? I’m not making it weird. Who’s making it weird?” Parse asked, though he mercifully kept his voice down to a decent level.

Jack sighed angrily, feeling the fight start to build in him. “I’m not _trying_ to make it weird, and I’d just…look, Parse, I thought you—I thought you understood. You said you understood,” he argued.

Parse opened his mouth as if to retort, but he couldn’t hide the brief flash of something real in his eyes, something that looked like sadness or at least disappointment. But he had to know—Jack had been very forthcoming, very honest about where he stood, and Parse had just looked him in the eye, with his hands fisted in Jack’s sweatshirt at his chest, and said “ _Sounds good to me, babe._ ” Parse had seemed, at the very least, to understand that it was just a hookup. Just one night. Nothing more.

“I’m sorry,” Parse then said, the sincerity in it surprising Jack into meeting his eyes again. “You’re right…I knew—I knew what you wanted.”

Because Jack didn’t have time for a boyfriend, and more than that, he didn’t want one. He had classes and hockey and his job and figuring out what he was going to do with his life, and a boyfriend—even one as hot as Parse—just wasn’t in the cards for him now.

So why did he suddenly feel so bad?


	2. Chapter 2

_A week ago:_

Parse kissed like he couldn’t believe it was actually happening, and there was something both cute and really hot about it. He gripped Jack’s hoodie in both hands, tugging Jack in to meet him, and only let go enough to slide one hand up to tangle in the hair at the nape of Jack’s neck. He exhaled softly, once, before he closed his eyes and his lips met Jack’s own, a bit tentative at first.

Jack couldn’t help but smile into it, and it turned into laughter when Parse also smiled and their teeth clacked, totally unsexily, together. “Good one, Kenny,” Jack chirped.

“Shut up, that was on you, weirdo!” Parse teased back. He seemed to get bold then, confidence returning maybe, and pushed Jack back against the door of his tiny studio apartment. “Or are you just that bad at kissing?”

“I’m great at kissing actually,” Jack replied—then set about proving it. He flipped their positions, pressing Parse into the little free space of wall between the door and the beginning of the kitchen area, and got a thigh between Parse’s legs, causing Parse to gasp and grind down, as he also tilted his head up to be kissed again. Jack kissed Parse deeply, slowly, and when he felt Parse’s tongue slip into his own mouth and stroke just the once along his own, he pulled back, mouth curving into another smile. “See?”

“Okay, you win,” Parse admitted, voice strained with want, “now can we just, uh—please?” He gestured a little further into the studio towards the partition that shielded his bed from the rest of the place.

Jack smirked at him, teasing a little more. “Are you always this impatient?” he asked, pushing into Parse’s space again and pulling that sexy little gasp from him again. It turned into a soft moan when he used his thigh to spread Parse’s legs a bit more and aligned their hips better. “Maybe I want to take my time with you.”

“May-maybe you’re a rotten t-tease, Zimms.” The stutter took whatever sting Parse might have intended out of the already-weak chirp, and Jack just chuckled low in the back of his throat before he nosed in along Parse’s strong jawline and tucked his face into Parse’s neck. He licked at a particularly tense and delicious-looking muscle and then, without any other warning, bit down. It was a nip, really, not hard enough to hurt much, but it punched a beautiful sound out of Parse’s mouth, like he’d been boarded out of nowhere. “Fuck, Zimms, that’s so good,” he breathed, as Jack sucked and mouthed at the sore spot.

Jack knew better than to give Parse a hickey, as it sent a message of possessiveness that Jack didn’t want to give, but he couldn’t help himself. He just knew it was going to look so pretty against Parse’s skin, a little bruise that Jack could look at later and think, y _eah, I did that, I made that._ A little piece of tonight that he could look back on fondly.

(Although, that was the exact opposite of what was best for him—for them. He wasn’t trying to start anything long-term. He wasn’t really trying to start anything at all, and he was pretty sure Parse got the message. Parse had said that he got it, anyway, and Jack had no reason to think Parse was lying to him. Why would he?)

“I want to put these all over you,” Jack murmured into the sensitive skin of Parse’s throat, dragging his lips across to area just behind Parse’s ear on the other side. “I want to get you all bruised up, show everyone just how much, euh, I mean—make you feel it,” he quickly corrected himself. “I want to make you _feel_ it.” He nipped gently at the spot and ran his tongue over to soothe it right away.

“Zimms, come _on,_ ” Parse begged, practically a whine as he cocked his head to give Jack more access and also bore down in a grind on Jack’s thigh to relieve some of the pressure he no doubt was feeling as Jack built him up.

Jack just kissed at the clenching muscle one last time a bit reluctantly—but yeah, he needed to pump the breaks a little bit. He couldn’t let Parse get the wrong idea. All he wanted, and all he really thought Parse wanted, was to have a little fun, blow off a little steam. That was all this was supposed to be—and pulled back. He slipped out of his hoodie and pulled his tee-shirt off over his head before he reached back out and carefully divested Parse of his tee-shirt as well. Then, he took Parse by the hands and pulled him towards the bed.

“Zimms, I—”

“—shh,” Jack interrupted him, as he sat down on the bed and settled himself enough that they weren’t going to fall on the floor when he pulled Parse into his lap. Parse’s eyes were wide open in awe again as he clung to Jack’s shoulders, steadying himself. “Unless,” Jack continued, rubbing small circles with his thumbs into the dimples just above the curve of Parse’s ass, “you want to stop?” He didn’t think Parse wanted to stop, but it was always best to be sure.

“No,” Parse said, eyes going dark and intense now. He exhaled shakily and wriggled his hips a little in a way that showed exactly how interested he was, drawing a gasp from Jack this time. Parse grinned and continued, leaning in so that he was speaking practically into Jack’s mouth, “no, I don’t want to stop.”

Jack smiled against the sultry whisper, then tipped backward so that Parse was laid out on top of him, pressed against the entire length of him. He got his hands onto Parse’s ass, encouraging him to start moving against him, as he licked into Parse’s mouth.

They didn’t talk for a long time, after that.


	3. Chapter 3

Jack’s break ended too quickly for him to feel better about the uncomfortable situation he’d created between himself and Parse, and by the time his shift ended later that morning, Parse had already left without a goodbye. So, yeah, maybe Jack should have got the message that Parse didn’t want to talk to him. Maybe Jack should have got the message that he, himself, had initially been trying to send, which was that as cool as Parse was and as fun as he could be to hang out with and definitely as awesome as it was to hook up with him, their relationship was not going to turn into a _relationship_.

“God, he’s so cute.”

“Right? Jack is so _lucky_.”

Jack looked up from counting out his drawer and tried to pretend that he wasn’t listening to Katie and Dan talking quietly about him a little further into the breakroom.

“You think they’re together?” Katie asked, sounding disappointed.

Dan laughed and said, “I mean, as much as I’d love it if they weren’t, they clearly have _something_ going on. Kent totally only comes in when Jack’s on.”

Katie huffed. “Maybe they’re just friends? It’s not like Jack ever talks about having a boyfriend.”

“Maybe not to _you_ ,” Dan replied—which made Jack bristle because he was most definitely not close enough with Dan to talk about boys or whatever. In fact, Jack was pretty sure the most he’d ever talked to Dan was asking him to cover a shift here and there. His coworkers, for the most part, were just that: coworkers, not Jack’s friends. He had plenty of friends on the hockey team and from some of his classes and, of course, Parse who, until very recently it seemed, was his _best_ friend. “But I guess we’ll just never know,” Dan then added, loud enough that Jack clearly was meant to hear, “since it’s not like he’ll ever tell.”

“ _Dan_ ,” Katie hissed, but it didn’t matter. Jack wasn’t going to dignify the bait with a response. It was nobody’s business but his own who he chose to spend his time with, and also, it was completely fucking rude for someone to suggest he just come out of the closet or whatever just because they were curious if someone else was single or not.

“What? I’m just saying…” Dan trailed off, like it was going to entice Jack to go over and join them in their gossiping.

Instead, Jack finished up with his drawer, dropped the money into the safe, and then took out his phone to send a text.

To: Parse

_Why is everyone such an asshole?_

His phone chimed with a response about twenty minutes later, after he’d already walked back to his off-campus apartment and dove into his World History reading for class tomorrow, and he couldn’t help but laugh at the response he probably should have been expecting, opening himself up the way he did.

From: Parse

_takes one to know one Zimms_

To: Parse

_Yeah, yeah, okay._

_Are you free to talk?_

Parse didn’t respond again for a long time, long enough for Jack to finish up his reading and make himself lunch. He sighed aggressively, feeling put out for reasons he wasn’t entirely sure of, even though he kind of knew that it was his own fault. Parse could be so stubborn though, and it was frustrating not being able to get through to Parse. It was frustrating feeling off balance about the whole thing though too.

It should have been easy to get back to normal, considering that they’d cleared the air before they’d hooked up. It should have been so easy to just go back to being best friends the way they’d been before. Jack wanted that so badly. He wanted to be able to talk to Parse without feeling like he’d done something wrong. He wanted the closeness that they had before without feeling like—Jack didn’t know, actually. He had no idea what he was feeling, only that it wasn’t good.

From: Parse

_working til 8, then gotta do that essay, sry._

To: Parse

_Could I come over after work? I won’t get in your way, I promise._

From: Parse

_idk man. gotta finish, can’t really get distracted_

The phone suddenly rang before Jack could finish composing a response, and he fumbled to answer it after nearly dropping it in his surprise. “Parse?”

“I just realized you probably wanna, uh, _you know_ , and yeah I guess that’s cool if you wanna come by,” Parse said, beating around the bush while also coming to straight to the point somehow. He was so good at that; it was infuriating, honestly.

“No,” Jack said quickly, because that really wasn’t what he wanted. He just wanted to hang, to talk maybe. To just exist in the same space because sometimes that was all Jack needed to feel calm and centered—chilling on the bed reading while Parse sat at his desk and did his problem sets, or maybe having Parse sit with him and do that thing he liked to do sometimes where he dragged his fingers through Jack’s hair and sort of massaged his scalp while he was reading through some article and Jack was ostensibly working on something while struggling to keep his eyes open under the relaxing onslaught. He just wanted all that. He wanted what they had and he didn’t want to have messed it up so terribly just because he’d gotten greedy and wanted something a little more.

Oh. _Oh._

“Oh, uh sure, sorry I guess I got the wrong, uh, idea,” Parse was saying, but Jack quickly cut him off.

“—I mean, yes, that, but not only that.”

Parse was silent again, but Jack could still hear him breathing on the other end of the call. The silence felt loaded, until Parse said, softly, almost disbelieving, “You want more than that?”

“Yes,” Jack said quickly.

Jack could hear his grin when Parse responded, “Cool, then it’s a date.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Incomplete since 2010._

**Author's Note:**

> Check Please belongs to Ngozi Ukazu. Title comes from "Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop" by Landon Pigg. Today's AU was supposed to be "post-apocalypse" but with the *gestures broadly at everything* going on right now, I just wasn't feeling it, so I used my "coffee shop au" wild card.


End file.
